different between scintillating vs salty

English

Etymology

scintillate +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?nt??le?t??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?nt??le?t??/
• Hyphenation: scin?til?lat?ing

Verb

scintillating

1. present participle of scintillate.

Adjective

scintillating (comparative more scintillating, superlative most scintillating)

1. That scintillates with brief flashes of light; sparkling.
   • 1994, Edward St Aubyn, Bad News, Picador 2006, page 147:

     On the scintillating water yellow and blue boats bobbed up and down.

   • 2012 October 13, quoting Nguyen Chi Thien, “Nguyen Chi Thien: Nguyen Chi Thien, a Vietnamese poet, died on October 2nd, aged 73”, in The Economist^[1], archived from the original on 13 October 2012:

     They sank me into the ocean / Wishing me to remain in the depths. / I became a deep sea diver / And came up covered with scintillating pearls.

2. Brilliantly or impressively clever, exciting, amusing or witty.
   • 1864, Edgar Allan Poe, The Literati of New York - No. II - Anna Cora Mowatt:

     Her sketches and tales may be said to be cleverly written. They are lively, easy, conventional, scintillating with a species of sarcastic wit, which might be termed good were it in any respect original.

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English salti, equivalent to salt +? -y.

Compare Saterland Frisian soaltich (“salty”), West Frisian sâltich (“salty”), Dutch zoutig (“salty”), German Low German soltig (“salty”), German salzig (“salty”).

(irritated, annoyed): From the sharp, spicy flavor of salt.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s?l.ti/
• Rhymes: -?lti

Adjective

salty (comparative saltier, superlative saltiest)

1. Tasting of salt.
   • 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, Wired, "The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel":

     A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.

2. Containing salt.
3. (figuratively) Coarse, provocative, earthy; said of language.
4. (figuratively) Experienced, especially used to indicate a veteran of the naval services; salty dog (from salt of the sea).
5. (US slang, dated) Irritated, annoyed
   • 1946, Mezz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues, Payback Press 1999, page 61:

     Ray and Fuzzy were salty with our unhip no-playing piano player, because she broke time on the piano so bad that the strings yelled whoa to the hammers.

   • 1969, Iceberg Slim, Pimp: The Story of My Life, Holloway House Publishing, page 162:

     I want to beg your pardon for making you salty that night.

6. (Internet slang, derogatory) Indignant or offended due to over-sensitivity, humourlessness, disappointment, or defeat (implying the person is a crybaby, shedding salty tears); said of interlocutors expressing indignation, or merely disagreement.
7. (linguistics) Pertaining to the Sardinian language and those dialects of Catalan, spoken in the Balearic Islands and along the coast of Catalonia, that use definitive articles descended from the Latin ipse (“self”) instead of the Latin ille (“that”).

Coordinate terms

• (irritated attitude): saltyback, sassy

Derived terms

• (experienced sailor): salty dog

Translations

Anagrams

• Styal, slaty